Archive for October, 2011

The Sound of Music is even better than you remember when it is live, on stage and right in front of you. This Broadway hit has been playing since the year 1959 and it has now returned, better than ever! It is an eight-time Tony Award winner having won for Best Musical, Best Actress and Best Musical Direction among other awards. One viewing and it is sure to go onto your “My Favorite Things” list!

The story is that Maria is a high-spirited woman, who is more than the small religious abbey she lives at can handle. Therefore, they send her out into the world to be a governess. The idea seems easy enough, but boy does she have her hands full with the seven Von Trapp children and their very serious father! So the adventure begins! Times are not always happy though, as the Nazis have their role in this play as well, but we will let you discover that for yourself. The story is filled with amazing songs, heartwarming scenes and an ending that is sure to leave you amazed, especially if you’ve never seen it before.

What few people today may know is that The Sound of Music is based on the real life memoirs of Maria von Trapp and her book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. The story for the play was written by Richard Rodgers and does take a few liberties with the real life version. The lyrics are done by Oscar Hammerstein II, and what amazing feats they are. Classics from the play include “Do-Re-Mi”, “My Favorite Things”, “Edelweiss”, and of course the title song.

The original play was so successful it went on to be made into the well known movie starring Julie Andrews. The movie won five Academy Awards and is much beloved by American audiences today. While the movie is a great experience, there is still nothing quite like seeing it performed live and in person. Don’t miss your opportunity to see The Sound of Musicmusical when it makes a stop in your hometown! You will be humming for weeks!

What is going to happen with the NBA for the upcoming season? Even in the midst of an exciting MLB finale between the Cardinals and the Rangers, and even nearing the halfway point of a great NFL season, we’re still blue about the very real possibility of an NBA strike. What is the latest news to emerge from the offices and the empty locker rooms?

Things are looking downright scary, since the latest news is that there are some very hard feelings between players and owners, and racial tension, may even have something to do with it. The latest meeting saw Derek Fisher claim that owners were lying to players, and from there name-calling began to increase. The Reverend Jesse Jackson is actually very concerned that the situation could get ugly, perhaps evne degenerating “into names and language that’s hard to take back.”

Bryant Gumbel recently added some fodder to the fire, by suggesting NBA commissioner David Stern was a bully when it comes to negotiating with players. Gumbel even made a racial comment in a recent interview stating that Stern was basically behaving like a “modern plantation overseer.”

Aside from racial implications, the biggest issue is most assuredly the pay cut that is destined to happy. The league owners (which do include mostly senior-aged white men) are talking about a pay cut of almost $300 million dollars a year. We also know that many NBA players have expressed an interest in playing basketball overseas. Indeed, with in-demand players, and with wealthy league owners, the likely losers in this scenario will be the fans of professional basketball.

There is a nice thought in the midst of all this heated argument, and that is that the players themselves are happy to play ball–and even to do it for free. Recently, some teammates of Michael Beasley all showed up and played an exhibition game at an Osseo High School. What was a simple game for charity actually became a major NBA exhibition game. The likes of Wes Johnson, Anthony Randolph and Dorell Wright showed up.

Of course, the day was not without a few conspicuous no-shows: Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall did not show up to the event despite advertised appearances.

It’s not quite Halloween yet, but if you’re keeping track of the latest NFL scores, then you’re seeing some scary sights, a few “ghosts” who are fading from glory, and a few monstrous defeats–and not from the teams you expect. Let’s first talk about the most gruesome scores of October 16, 2011.

How about the Green Bay Packers slaughtering the Rams? Talk about a sacrificial ram–the Packers defeated the Rams 24-3, despite some serious offense problems from the former. The Rams have since acquired Brandon Lloyd from Denver, who will hopefully be an effective pass receiver for Sam Bradford. Many journalists are stating that the Rams need a miracle if they’re going to survive this season with their dignity intact.

How about the ghastly final score of 39-10, as the Chicago Bears wasted the Vikings? Perhaps Chicago had something to prove after last week’s disastrous game with the Detroit Lions, because they displayed some solid, if unorthodox, plays. Meanwhile, last year’s “big story” is now becoming ghostly, considering that they compiled a win/loss record of 1-5 as of mid-October.

Meanwhile, the New England Patriots strive to prove to their naysayers that they are not a ghost of a team. Many believe the franchise is over, New England is playing like a champion, thanks to great performances by players Tom Brady and Aaron Hernandez, both of whom helped the team to score a last minute touchdown for the win. And the Dallas Cowboys are starting to become translucent in terms of wins. Each and every week they test their competition, only to lose by a hair. Still, final score is what determines the season, not just strong resistance. In fact, Dallas’ future is looking bleak, just in time for Halloween, since they now have two offensive starters on the injury list: Felix Jones and Bill Nagy.

So which team has the best win and loss record this early in the season? The Patriots have only lost once, giving them an impressive 5-1 record, though the Ravens are holding their own with 4-1 for the season thus far. Both the Lions and the 49ers are also looking good, each one having only lost one game, but with five victories behind them. However, the team with the best score card this week is the Green Bay Packers who are 6-0. And while there are plenty of teams vying for the worst record of the league, it’s hard to non-compete with the Rams, who have lost five games without a single victory!

What do you think, is Green Bay destined to win Super Bowl 2012 or is it too soon to tell?

Kid Rock may appear a little rough around the edges sometimes, but don’t ever accuse this musician of not having a heart. In conjunction with his latest single release, aptly named Care, Kid Rock announced on Monday that he’ll be performing a 15-stop tour around the United States later this year. But this isn’t just your regular promotion tour. Kid Rock has set it up so that himself, as well as Detroit businessmen donate money to every city that Rock visits.

Being a Detroit native and seeing the hard times his own city has gone through over the past several years, Kid Rock knows what it’s like to live in those towns. And that’s why he’s set up the Kid Rock Foundation, the foundation that will be donating to local charities in every city stop along the tour. The tour starts on November 10 in Atlanta, Georgia and from there Kid Rock will make stops in Chicago, Denver, and New York, just to name a few.

Sales don’t go on sale until October 15. Find out here if Kid Rock will be in a town near you, and then get your Kid Rock tickets!

Adele, and more the fans of Adele, just can’t catch a break. The singer, who has recently soared to the top of the charts and broken many records, including Eminem’s of most digital album copies sold, has just cancelled more of her tour dates. While it’s never good when a performer has to cancel shows, it’s especially disappointing in the case of Adele, mostly because these were largely shows that have already been rescheduled once.

Those shows were initially to be held during May and June of this year, but Adele had to reschedule them after she came down with a violent case of laryngitis. Adele did perform in August, but has now had to cancel the rest of her shows due to hemorrhaging in her vocal chords. Adele took to her website to tell her fans of the cancellations, and to express how deeply sorry she was.

It doesn’t sound like a serious condition, just something the singer will need plenty of rest for. And at this point, it’s probably best she take the time and come back in full gear; rather than needing to cancel even more shows after a premature return.

TicketMaster is still selling tickets to some of Adele’s shows but her reps have been pretty clear that there will be no shows in the near future. Whether or not these shows are just being scrapped altogether, or will once again be rescheduled, has not yet been announced.

Adele has also been known to put on surprise shows before — perhaps that’s the best way for the singer to make the ultimate comeback upon her return?

Even though he says that it “isn’t like the old days,” Elton John’s returning to Las Vegas and he’s bringing yet another huge show with him! What the icon actually meant when saying that when about this most recent show, was that it will be nothing like anything fans have ever seen before. And that just might be true.

When Elton John opened his “The Million Dollar Piano” show this past Wednesday night, it may have been no surprise that he arrived in Elton style, sparkling cape and all, or even that he received a standing ovation after every song. The fact that the icon had a piano on-stage with him certainly also comes at no shock, given that he is after all, usually sitting behind one. And as an interesting side note, his show that ended in Sin City in 2009 was also dubbed “The Red Piano.” So the fact that he brought one along again is to be expected. But, this piano isn’t quite like any other that fans may have seen — or even heard of — ever before.

Inside the piano is a washing machine (spin cycle and all,) a microwave, and an aquarium. While Elton does spill that the washer is located in the back of the cycle, who knows where all that other stuff is crammed in? But this piano’s beauty doesn’t only lie on the inside; the outside is full of things for crowds to look at too, including a video screen on its side.

The piano is named Blossom after Blossom Dearie, the legendary jazz singer, and it took Yamaha 4 years to create the piece. Fans can see it for themselves throughout the month of October when Elton will be playing 16 shows. After that, the show will stay in Las Vegas for the next 3 years; so there’s lots of chances to get your tickets and see Elton (and Blossom) live!

Radiohead has never been a band to hog the spotlight. They recently performed on Saturday Night Live’s season premiere, after not appearing on the show for more than ten years; and during their stay in The Big Apple, they’ll also perform at the Roseland Ballroom on Thursday and Friday later this week. All of this after performing in Glastonbury this past June. That’s already a lot of touring for a band that prefers to keep to the studio, away from the bright lights and big crowds.

But apparently all of that was just a warm-up, as Radiohead has just announced that they’re going on a full tour in 2012. And for fans who sometimes have to wait a decade or more to see this rock band, that’s news to get excited about!

All of the recent performances, along with the upcoming tour, are in effort to promote the band’s eighth studio album, The King of Limbs. And, it was the show in Glastonbury that Philip Selway, the band’s drummer, said “reignited [the band’s] passion for performing live.” Perhaps that means that there will be plenty of stops on what’s hopefully a world tour? No one knows just yet, as official dates and stops have not yet been announced. The band’s lead singer, Thom Yorke, did spill on the fact that Clive Deamer from the band Portishead would be coming along on the tour with them, after performing on stage with them in Glastonbury. No one wants to ruin the magic, after all.

In addition to all of this, Radiohead fans have even more to look forward to in the coming months. Yorke is also currently working on an album with Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and that album is due to be released shortly.

You can’t deny it; Radiohead may be a band that makes their fans wait. But when they do come up with something, it’s always been well worth it!

Update:

Just minutes after tickets went on sale Monday morning for Radiohead’s newest tour, fans started having problems purchasing those tickets through TicketMaster. Tickets would appear in their shopping cart one minute and when they tried to check out the next, the tickets disappeared, with a message saying that the tickets were no longer available. What was going on?

TicketMaster says it’s a problem with the paper system and their paperless system, banned in New York, would fix the problem. The Fan Freedom Project, a non-profit organization working in the interest of consumers, says it’s a problem with bands and promoters not being honest about how many tickets they actually have on sale, and when those tickets go on sale. That turned out to be the more likely reason of the two, as later in the afternoon the ticket purchasing problem turned out to be resolved, indicating that the promoters and band had simply released more Radiohead tickets.